Who Never Was
by Lakelis
Summary: Just a fic for a memory. What if before Axel faded, he was given a heart and along with it, a second chance? OC who dies, maybe AkuRoku.


This is kind of short for my writing…erg. Well, it's for Axel and Roxas and their friendship. It's mostly because chances are, I'm going to move away, so I'm not going to be seeing my friends next year in high school. So if any of you ever forget me (and you know who you are) I'm gonna find you! So yeah, just read and enjoy. Gift for you my AkuRoku Fangirl! (You know who you are)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Kingdom Hearts 2 or any of its characters, but I still love it!

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"So many Nobodies, can you four handle them all?" two hazel eyes peered into the portal before them. An army of Nobodies surrounded the four allies who seemed like they'd gone through more than just that amount of Nobodies in their lifetime. The ball shimmered in the light and a thought pulled at the back of the mind of the watcher. "He can't be planning to…I've got to get Roxas back."

The girl swung her legs over the side of her chair and hair that had been shorn down through Sora's keyblade gave a gleaming glory to her appearance. The only thing that set her apart from the other members was her own dress. Instead of the normal black hooded cloaks, she wore instead black and red with a larger hood to hide her face. It wasn't as thought the women lasted long anyways.

"I've got to…got to hurry up," she panted as she ran down the hall. "Axel…you can't possibly want to do this for someone like him."

The sound of her footsteps echoed through the empty hallway of the castle. The hallway as empty as her heart was, if she had one that was.

"I think I liked it better when they were on my side," a tall redhead claimed. Two tattoos claimed the otherwise unmarked flesh underneath the man's eyes as he said those words. Sora gave a smirk and glanced at him.

"Feeling a little…regret?" the brown haired boy questioned. Axel chuckled slightly before replying the question that should have had the answer so obvious. He turned slightly to show his face as he spoke.

"Nah, I can handle these punks. Watch this!" he smirked as he leapt forward into battle despite the massive army of Nobodies approaching him. Just as he started to charge his attack, a black and white haired girl poked her head through a portal.

"AXEL!" she shouted. The words didn't stop her fellow member from continuing. He gave a shout as he completed his blow and the girl shielded her eyes from the light by turning her head, only to see nothingness. The girl decided that being blinded was better. Instead she found Axel collapsing and starting to fade. "Axel…you can't be fading. That's not fair!"

The girl ran out, her eyes stinging with unshed tears. Axel gave the familiar face a glance and gave a weak smile towards her before closing his eyes. When she finally reached him he could only speak her name once.

"Pyxire," he acknowledged her presence. The girl looked at Sora and his friends before turning back to Axel, a single tear falling from her eyes. "I thought you were the one that said Nobodies didn't deserve to fake it…"

"…I need to go…" the girl claimed while pushing herself up from the floor. She left and pushed Sora towards the man. For a moment, Sora could feel something small, like a heartbeat beneath the gentle gesture. Hazel eyes looked dead as she plunged her hand into Sora's chest, a black smoke surrounding it. Slowly she drew out a familiar face with shining blue eyes. "Go."

Both of the parts obeyed the girl who only stood facing the other way, unable to watch or listen to what the three had to say. Hazel eyes narrowed again before they completely closed, the girl reaching within her emptiness to draw out what was once there.

"Axel, why did you…?" Sora started. His eyes were shining with tears that he couldn't know were there.

"I wanted to see…!" the Nobody stopped dead in the middle of his sentence once he saw who was behind Sora. "Roxas…"

"Hey Axel…" he knelt down and reached his hand out towards his best friend. Axel smiled and reached for Roxas as well. "I told you I'd be waiting…"

"Silly, just 'cause you have a next life…" Axel smiled. Roxas stared at him with questioning eyes but he shrugged it off. "Forget it…she pulled you right out of him."

"Yeah, I guess she did," Roxas replied. The darkness was pulling around Axel and it was becoming harder to see the outline of his body. Roxas grabbed onto Axel's hand and held on, his fingers refusing to let go. "C'mon buddy, you can make it."

"Sorry Roxas, it's the end of the line for me," Axel claimed. "You'll be fine on your own, right?"

"I dunno Axel, will I be?" Roxas replied softly. The redhead could only smile at his naïve friend with a fading face. "Don't leave me Axel."

"You'll be fine on your own…really," Axel claimed. Roxas felt his tears fall from his face freely and Axel chuckled. "C'mon now, what's with all the crying? First Pyxire now you?"

"You're fading away Axel!" Roxas cried. Axel chuckled.

"Not if you remember me," he claimed. He spared Sora a thankful glance. "Now I'm gonna go, you'll be alright. Just stick with Sora."

"But…"

"No buts. You'll take care of him, right Sora?" Axel questioned. Sora nodded solemnly. Here Axel smiled. "Thanks…you two made me feel like I actually had a heart."

"This is what happens when you put your entirety into one attack…" Pyxire moved into the small group, her hand shining with a bright light. Axel stared at it with a strange look in his eyes. His once teammate smiled at him in return. "So what if I gave you a heart?"

"A heart?" Sora questioned. The girl held out her hand towards Axel and offered the fragile item almost delicately. Axel only stared at it in confusion.

"What? Why don't you use it?" Axel questioned. "You found it."

"No Axel, I want you to take it. It's not like it'll do me any good, going this long without any emotion…" she pushed it towards the red-haired man. "It may just save you, and…maybe Roxas won't have to simply remember you."

"What's wrong with your brain? The Superior will find out that you used Kingdom Hearts, and he'll go after you!" Axel snapped. "The Superior is like our _god_, got it memorized?"

"He is not, at least, not in what I have seen so far…" Pyxire sighed. "If Xenmas wishes for a heart, then Kingdom Hearts will not be his to use."

"What?" Sora questioned, fully remembering past events of "Ansem's" opening of Kingdom Hearts.

"That dolt, can't even figure out how to use something as simple as Kingdom Hearts, how can he be a god? Take the heart Axel, you need it more than anyone. Look you're almost gone already. Just take it before I change my mind," Pyxire smiled. "Go on, take it."

Once more the girl pushed the now fading light towards the fading Nobody. He hesitated, but upon the pleading gesture of the girl, he took it into his hands and brought it to his chest as best he could. In the flash of light that existed, there was no one to see the miracle that occurred in front of the small group.

"Kingdom Hearts, cannot be used by a Nobody," Pyxire claimed. "That is why Nobodies cannot be whole without the help of another. Like Roxas and Sora are one and the same, a Nobody can be one and the same with another person with a heart. To use Kingdom Hearts, one must surrender their own heart…and search for the one they need in return…"

"What?" Axel exclaimed. He looked at his own hands where the heart had been, but nothing lay there any longer. The girl smiled at him even as her strength ebbed away.

"Just as putting your entire being into an _attack_ will make you fade, putting your entire being into a great healing will also force you to fade…if you're a Nobody," the girl claimed. "The name's Pyrie, don't forget it. Don't you dare waste my heart either Axel."

With those words, she fell to the floor and didn't get back up. Sora and Roxas both moved towards her and looked upon her figure on the floor. There was an emptiness within her eyes that haunted them.

"Pyxire," Roxas reached for her arm. "Pyxire, wake up…Pyxire!?"

"Didn't you hear her Roxas? She gave her heart to Kingdom Hearts…" Axel got up and moved towards the lifeless corpse. "She can't wake up, not after that…"

"Her will…it wasn't strong…" Sora shook the body. "But it wasn't weak either…she just…"

"Stupid…" Axel kneeled next to the girl, tears shining in his eyes. "Is this what having a heart feels like? What the hell is so great about it?"

The man picked up the girl gently and burned her, letting the ashes scatter across the world that never was. Sora gasped and tried to save the ashes, but Axel stopped him.

"Don't. she deserves this at least," Axel claimed. "It's better than becoming a Heartless right?"

"But…!" Sora protested. Axel shook his head and looked outwards, remembering his friend's face.

"She wouldn't have liked it unless it was this way," he claimed. "She won't get a next life without a heart…not as a normal person."

And the three looked at the swirling colors and remembered. They remembered their friend's face, her eyes, and her voice. They remembered everything they could of her, they brought up memories that had been long lost before.

"See you then…Pyrie," Axel murmured long after Sora and Roxas had merged again and left. He shook his head and turned away, swearing he could still hear her voice echoing through the emptiness of the world. He swore he could hear the voice of one that never was.

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A/N: Gah, Axel was supposed to die...I couldn't bring myself to do it...well, more chapters for anyone that might have actually liked this then...I guess...


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